ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — A mass shooting early Sunday at a crowded bar on an idyllic island considered to be the largest Gullah community on the South Carolina coast has left four people dead and at least 20 injured, officials said.
A large crowd was at Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island when sheriff’s deputies arrived and found many people with gunshot wounds. An estimated 5,000 or more Gullah people living on the island trace their ancestry back to enslaved West Africans who once worked rice plantations in the area before being freed by the Civil War.
Bar owner Willie Turral was inside the establishment, which was packed for a high school alumni event, when he heard shots going off “in bursts” outside. He described the scene: “Screaming and panic and fear.”
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on the social platform X that many people ran to nearby businesses seeking shelter from the gunfire.
“This is a tragic and difficult incident for everyone,” the statement said. “We ask for your patience as we continue to investigate this incident. Our thoughts are with all of the victims and their loved ones.”
Among the injured, four were in critical condition at hospitals Sunday afternoon. The victims’ identities were not released.
Turral said the bar was hosting an event for alumni of Battery Creek High School in Beaufort, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of St. Helena Island. He said people were having a good time when the shots were heard.
“It was scary from the inside,” he said, with “people not knowing what’s really going on outside, people trying to get to safety.”
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., posted on X that she was “COMPLETELY HEARTBROKEN to learn about the devastating shooting.”
Willie’s Bar and Grill advertises itself as serving authentic Gullah-inspired cuisine and describes itself on its website as “not just a restaurant but a community pillar committed to giving back, especially to our youth.”
Smaller enclaves of Gullah, referred to as Geechee in some areas, are scattered along the Southeast coast from North Carolina to Florida. Scholars say separation from the mainland caused the Gullah to retain much of their African heritage, including a unique dialect and skills such as cast-net fishing and basket weaving.
